Today's stage: The final time
trial. A day when many Champions have confirms their strength in this
race.
Who won today's stage? Bradley
Wiggins (Team Sky) did what a champion is supposed to do in the final
time trial: win the thing. Of course the shock is that he destroyed
the field again, just like the first time trial. Only his teammate
Chris Froome and Spanish time trial champion Luis Leon Sanchez
(Rabobank) were within two minutes of Wiggins on the stage and the
overall victory is confirmed by a large margin.
What matters in the GC race? No
change on the podium. The time gaps between Wiggins, Froome and
Vincezno Nibali (Liquigas) got larger. Below them there was some
reshuffling in the bottom half of the top ten. Defending champion
Cadel Evans (BMC) struggled in the time trial and dropped to 7th
place behind Haimar Zubeldia (RSNT).
What matters in other competitions?
Green Jersey (Points) – Peter
Sagan (Liquigas) has clinched the Green Jersey.
Polka Dot Jersey (King of the
Mountains) – Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) has clinched the Polka
Dot Jersey.
White Jersey (Best Young Rider)
– Tejay van Garderen (BMC) officially clinched the White Jersey
over Thibaut Pinot (FDJ) today, but the competition hasn't been in
doubt since the end of the mountains.
Team Classification (Calculated by
adding the three best times on each team each day) – Sky closed
down 8 minutes in the time trial with Richie Porte finishing 5th
along with Wiggins and Froome, but it wasn't enough to overtake RSNT
for the team title.
Biggest surprise: Tejay van
Garderen caught Cadel Evans on the course. Van Garderen and Evans
started three minutes apart but Evans was awful in the early part of
the course allowing van Garderen to catch his team leader in a big
surprise.
Biggest disappointment: Fabian
Cancellara (RSNT) and Tony Martin (OPQS) were not here, having long
since abandoned the race. It would have been nice to see these two
challenge Wiggins and Froome in the time trial after three weeks of
racing as one of them has often won the final time trial in recent
years.
What is coming tomorrow? Sprint
battle royale on the Champs-Elysses.
Tomorrow's prediction: 1. Mark
Cavendish 2. Andre Greipel 3. Matt Goss
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